What is a j turn

I’m a big fan of old cop and detective shows. One of my favorites is The Rockford Files that aired in the 1970s and starred the legendary James Garner as private detective Jim Rockford. The Rockford Files was famous for the car chase scenes in which Rockford would race down bad guys in his Firebird Esprit. Rockford’s signature car maneuver was the J-Turn in which he would start off in reverse, spin the car 180 degrees and then continue forward in the same direction. Because the move was used so often on the show, the J-turn is often called “The Rockford Turn.”

I thought it was a cool move and could come in handy if I’m ever outrunning bad guys like Jason Bourne or something. So I asked Wyatt Knox at Team O’Neil Rally School how exactly one performs a J-turn. Knox teaches this skill as part of Team O’Neil’s tactical driving course and above you’ll find his instructions illustrated by Ted Slampyak.

Wyatt noted that J-turns don’t really work with newer cars that have “Stability Control.” He also recommends not doing this in high center of gravity cars like SUVs and trucks because of the risk of rollover.

1. Come to a complete stop and shift into reverse. Left hand at 12 o’clock on the wheel, looking over shoulder out rear window.
2. Reverse aggressively (but without too much wheelspin) for 2-3 seconds in a straight line to build necessary momentum.
3. Lift off gas abruptly and quickly turn wheel 180ْ ْ (left hand from 12:00 to 6:00). Usually done “left hand down” in the US (counterclockwise) so you’ll end up in the other lane instead of a ditch.
4. Car will begin to spin.
5. Keep looking where you want to go as the vehicle spins around.
6. About halfway around, engage forward gear.
7. As vehicle finishes spin, left hand back to 12 o’clock (straight) and accelerate.
8. After car completes spin, zoom forward to catch those bad guys. Tell’em “Freeze, turkey!”

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This is predominantly an evasive driving manoeuvre or stunt, but is also a lot of fun. When trying to learn this technique, it’s worth using low grip surfaces such as a grassy field or a wet area of tarmac. Once you’re confident, you can work up to dry tarmac, but you will need more speed which means things could go wrong faster. The beautiful thing about J-turns is that you don’t need a performance car to pull one off.

Overview

For the purposes of this article, we will demonstrate an anti-clockwise j-turn and split the technique into four stages, which combine to form the complete manoeuvre (shown below).

Overview of the J-turn

Stage 1:

Start off in reverse gear, make sure the coast is clear behind you and turn your head so you’re looking out of the rear window. When learning to pull off the perfect j-turn, you’ll find that your finishing position may not be exactly in line with where you started off, so make sure you have lots of room to the either side or the car as well as behind. Now accelerate to between 15 and 25 mph (depending on how slippery the ground is) and keep the power on. You can steer with one or two hands, our suggested steering position shown in Figure 1 below.

Step 1

Figure 1: Steering position

Stage 2:

Come off the power rapidly (transferring the weight to the back of the car) and fractionally later quickly apply half to three quarters of a turn of steering lock rapidly. Watch out as the front of the car swings round to the left, so ensure there are no obstacles there.

Step 2

Stage 3:

The next step depends on the type of car you’re driving. There are two basic methods one of which uses the brakes (easiest) and one doesn’t (more difficult). If you have ABS fitted, you will not be able to use the brake method as it will be impossible to lock the wheels, so read the paragraph that applies to your car below: A. Front wheel drive, manual transmission, no ABS: Mid way through the turn, when the front wheels are parallel with the track, stab the brakes* and clutch. This will lock up the front wheels due to the fact most of the braking bias is towards the front. The momentum of the turn combined with the rear weight transfer will allow the front for the car to rotate round until you’re facing in the opposite direction. When the front wheels are locked, select first gear. Now move onto Stage 4. If you would prefer not to lock up the front wheels, use option B. B. Front wheel drive, manual transmission, ABS: As you have ABS fitted you won’t be able to lock up the front wheels as used in option A. This means it will be more difficult to select first gear when the wheels are rotating backwards so you need to use double declutching. To do this, press the clutch in and pop it into neutral, then clutch out briefly. Clutch in yet again and select first. This can be done as a rapid series of movements with practice, but adds complexity to this manoeuvre. C. Rear or four wheel drive, manual transmission, with or without ABS: It is very difficult to lock up the rear wheels when pulling off a J-turn, so the easiest method is to avoid the use of the brakes and double declutch to select first gear. To do this, press the clutch in and pop it into neutral, then clutch out briefly. Clutch in yet again and select first. This can be done as a rapid series of movements with practice. D. Automatic transmission, front, rear of four wheel drive, with or without ABS: If you have an automatic, this technique can be much easier to pull off – mid way through the turn, simply flick into neutral, then drive when you’re pointing in the right direction. Some autos are more sympathetic, and in this case you’ll be able to move straight into drive.

Step 3

Stage 4:

While the front of the car is rotating, start to reduce the amount of steering lock and prepare to pull away in the opposite direction to the starting point. When you’re pointing in the right direction, ensure first gear or ‘D’ is selected, and release the clutch with enough revs to spin the wheels slightly, pull away using the same techniques as used in a perfect start.

Step 4

Advanced tip:

If you’re finding it hard to get the front round, try increasing speed or use a quick flick of opposite lock before hand to unsettle the car (a reverse Scandinavian flick).

See our article describing how to do a Scandinavian flick

The point of these turns it to greatly reduce – or even eliminate -- a significant number of severe crashes common when drivers must cross-over busy highways to reach another road.

In the J-turn design drivers turn right in the same direction of traffic, and merge safely into the left lane to prepare to make a left turn in the direction they intended to travel. This option uses an extended deceleration lane, basically adding a third lane on the highway to allow traffic making a left turn onto opposing lanes to safely pull off the mainline, out of the way of high speed traffic. In addition, acceleration lanes may be constructed to allow traffic an opportunity to gain speed after turning onto the highway.

How do J-turns enhance safety?

J-turns have proven to be a safer alternative to a traditional roadway intersection on a four-lane highway because they eliminate or greatly reduce right-angle crashes, the crash type most responsible for fatalities and serious injuries at intersections. In fact, the installation of J-turns at similar intersections throughout Missouri and the nation have shown a substantial decrease in fatal and serious injury crashes. Basically, they eliminate the need for motorists to cross the high-speed lanes of traffic to get to the opposing lanes.

Studies done by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program show J-turns provide significant reduction in right-angle, “far” side crashes. 

Recent statistics about J-turns:

A recent study conducted by the University of Missouri shows that implementing the J-turn design at intersections of high-speed rural expressways and minor roads results in fewer crashes than those that are controlled by two-way stops.